1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to photovoltaic devices, and more particularly to a device and method for fabricating a corrugated or undulating photovoltaic device structure with nanolayers to achieve higher efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
With growing concern about low cost clean energy, solar power has again become a focal point for alternatives to fossil fuel energy production. Solar energy, while clean and sustainable, typically relies on expensive technologies for its implementation. These technologies include the incorporation of integrated circuits or integrated circuit technology into the fabrication of solar cells. The expense associated with current solar panels is a strong disincentive from moving in the direction of solar power.
Solar panels employ photovoltaic cells to generate current flow. When a photon hits silicon, the photon may be transmitted through the silicon, reflected off the surface, or absorbed by the silicon if the photon energy is higher than the silicon band gap value. This generates an electron-hole pair and sometimes heat, depending on the band structure. To achieve good carrier collection efficiency, nanorods have been suggested. These structures extend from a base and have an increased absorption length due to the length of the nanorod (or wire). Nanorods require expensive processing techniques (patterning and etching steps in a clean room semiconductor processing environment) to form them.